Whiskey/Scotch Thread

[WhiskyPat12]

Originally Posted by Josh-PA

My wife and I are going to Louisville / Lexington in a couple of weeks. I have tastings scheduled at Angel's Envy on Friday, Mitcher's early Saturday and Buffalo Trace in the afternoon. I'm hoping to score a couple of harder to find bottles when there. For the Bourbon aficionados, anyplace you'd recommend we check out while down there?

Allow me to sperg out a bit...

I've been a few times, I absolutely love that place. I'd move there if I could! I'm no expert, but we did the entire Main part of the KY Bourbon Trail in 2.5 trips (about 11 days in KY total not including travel days). I wouldn't recommend the pace we did it at, but If I can help answer any questions, please ask!

A lot depends on how much driving you plan on doing. My favorite off the beaten path or less known places were Pursuit Spirits (Whole Shebang is a bottle your own, about 10min from Whisky Row), Peerless (Craft Trail, walking distance from Whisky Row) and Whiskey Thief (all samples are from the barrel, close to Frankfort). Here's a map to help logistics (it's probably not 100%)

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/ed...18&usp=sharing

For Buffalo Trace, depending on what their daily release is you might not get it (If it's Blanton's or EH Taylor) but they almost always have Eagle Rare on the shelf these days. Weller Special Reserve isn't worth waiting in line for unless you never had it (it's the cheapest Weller). But it's worth a visit either way.

Michter's is also random for when they do drops. Same with their bottle your own experience. There is a line usually 30-45min before they open to try and schedule the BYO, but we were there in the afternoon and that's when they brought out the Allocated bottles to buy. NOTE: Bottles at the distilleries are typically more expensive (even the lower tier offerings) because they don't want to screw over the stores that sell the majority of their stuff.


Starlight is in Boden, IN. About 25-30min north. GREAT whisky! It's a part of Huber Winery and Orchard, so there is more than just whisky there.

The standard cheaper tours get a bit redundant (you'll hear 51% corn A LOT), so don't be afraid to do some of the pricy ones if you can.

If you make it to Bardstown Bourbon Company, the barrel thieving tour was excellent, and you have to eat lunch there. The food is amazing!

Heavan Hill has a bottle your own, and their allocated drops are hit or miss and usually spend bottles.

Old Forester drops usually require a tour to purchase.

Something that is whisky-adjacent is the Kentucky Cooperage tour in Lebanon. Best smelling tour ever. (It's an hour south of Downtown Louisville).

Stop at Liquor Barn if you want to try some hard to find bottles. But as far as finding ones to purchase out in the wild it's actually not great. I have better luck here in Houston than bottle hunting in KY.

Cheers!

[Josh-PA]

thanks guys (especially Whisky pat). appreciate the info

[JMcLellan]

I just got back last night from a trip to the bourbon trail. It's hard to not have an amazing time there. My favorite stop was a really small place called Whiskey Thief. Great stuff no one has ever heard of and a really cool experience. We also went to Lux Row, Heaven Hill, Jim Beam, Old Forester, Kentucky Artisan Distillery (currently doing production for Jeffersons bourbon). I liked all of them honestly. It's really cool to hear everyone's story.

[Josh-PA]

At risk of getting banned, is there anything non-whiskey related you would recommend down there? We only have a couple of days and already have 3 tours/tastings reserved. I'm not sure how many more we can handle. We are doing dinner at 610magbolia Saturday night. The cooperage sounds pretty cool. We will be driving up from Nashville so maybe we will hit that on the way into town. Anything else we shouldn't miss?

[WhiskyPat12]

Originally Posted by Josh-PA

At risk of getting banned, is there anything non-whiskey related you would recommend down there? We only have a couple of days and already have 3 tours/tastings reserved. I'm not sure how many more we can handle. We are doing dinner at 610magbolia Saturday night. The cooperage sounds pretty cool. We will be driving up from Nashville so maybe we will hit that on the way into town. Anything else we shouldn't miss?

The cooperage is very cool, make sure you look and see if they are open for tours that day. I think it was like $20/pp
https://www.kentuckycooperagetours.com/

I haven't done these, but if your a Baseball or Boxing fan there are the

Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory

and

Frazier History Museum

One thing I forgot to mention that IS whisky related... The drive to Woodford Reserve, and the ground there are beautiful.

If you like sweets, see if you can find Modjeskas, they sell them at Old Foresters shop on Whisky Row and some other spots. Chocolate covered marshmallow and caramel diabetes